"I have a strong wish to meet Nate Diaz in my next fight" - that's what Khabib said in his cage-side interview. Unfortunately he wasn't able to challenge Diaz in octagon as they didn't have Russian-Portuguese interpreter.

proof from the largest Russian MMA site valetudo.ru: http://www.valetudo.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5020&Itemid=48

I dont get this. Everyone was all on Jon Jones case about "accepting" the Sonnen fight. So why would Nate Diaz get the choice to "accept" a fight or not. I thought UFC made the matchups, not fighters. So which way is it?

I both agree and disagree with this. Fighters have to become top 10 guys somehow and the only real way to do that is to fight guys in the top 10. I do think that Diaz is more than just top 10 (legit top 5) and that Khabib needs to fight the Lauzons, Jim Millers, etc of the division before having a crack at someone like Diaz. Khabib looks great so far but lets not jump the gun. I'm not a big fan of rushing young guys into title contention fights before they've proved they can handle the top end of the division.

I dont get this. Everyone was all on Jon Jones case about "accepting" the Sonnen fight. So why would Nate Diaz get the choice to "accept" a fight or not. I thought UFC made the matchups, not fighters. So which way is it?

You are absolutely right. This is exactly like that time a fighter pulled out of the headlining UFC LHW fight, and a replacement from a lower weight class stepped up but was refused by the champion.

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